Cohen back in business despite trial trauma

By Mick Cleary, Rugby Correspondent

8:21PM GMT 29 Jan 2002

AS Ben Cohen took his place in the middle of a media throng to comment on his recall to the England team to face Scotland on Saturday, so, a hundred miles to the north, another group of people convened to consider an altogether more important matter.

The jury at Birmingham Crown Court retired at lunchtime yesterday to consider their verdict on three men accused of the manslaughter of Cohen's father, Peter, whose death from injuries sustained in an attack at his nightclub occurred on the very day 14 months ago that his son learned that he had been chosen to play against Australia. It is a macabre circle of fate.

Gone is the rather gauche young man of two years ago, headstrong and full of himself. He has mellowed and matured. His rugby reflects his broader outlook on life and he deserves his recall to colours, all the more remarkable given that he has spent most of the last fortnight attending the trial to lend support to his mother, Lana, and brother, Justin.

"This was just the right time to get some good news," said the 23-year-old Cohen, who had a disappointing Lions tour last summer and was passed over for England's front-line matches in the autumn even though he has an impressive strike rate of 11 tries in 13 Tests. He did play, however, in the November rout of Romania.

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"It's been difficult, of course. The family will never get back what they've lost. I felt I had to be there. This has been hanging over our heads for a long time. There have been a lot of things that you didn't particularly want to hear. In a way, this has all come so early in my life. You don't expect your dad to die when you're only 21. You don't expect to be in court listening to all that. It's been an eye-opener all right. I'm braced for whatever the verdict might be. It will be good to bring closure to it all and move on."

Cohen has become far more than the one-dimensional, straight-line runner he was when he first came on the scene two years ago to make his debut against Ireland. Then he effectively had to be pointed in the right direction. These days, he chooses his spot and picks his moment. England's manager, Clive Woodward, declared yesterday that Cohen's name was one of the first on the team sheet.

"He's been in outstanding form and it's a big tribute to him that he's come through all this," Woodward said. "He'd have started regardless of who else had been available."

Cohen has benefited from the recent arrival at Franklin's Gardens of Wayne Smith, the former All Blacks coach. "He's made us all respect the jersey and play to a higher standard," Cohen said. "He's got the whole Northampton back line on the move again and scoring tries. He's given us direction."

Cohen's own character has also been forced to explore new territories. The upshot is that he has acquired a sense of perspective on all fronts.

"It was all rugby, rugby, rugby at one time," Cohen said. "That's all I was interested in. Now I can close the door on it. It's still important to me but I know where it belongs. It's not the only thing in my life. All sportsmen have ups-and-downs and you have to get used to that. My confidence took a massive knock on the Lions tour but I had to come through all that. I've learnt to chill out. I'm more easy-going. It's growing up really. I've matured and read the game a lot better. I'm no longer so blinkered."